TOP ACES OF WWII Playing Cards

$26,616

467

Latest News!

August 30, 2018 -- FUNDED! We hit the funding goal of $20,000 at 9:00am on Aug. 30th

Stretch Goals

$30,000 (540 Backers) Companion Booklet - LOCKED

- A companion booklet will be added to the project, giving everyone the ability to add it to the Kickstarter pledge.

_________________________________________

$25,000 (460 Backers) Custom Numbered Seals - REACHED!- For All DELUXE AND SIGNATURE CASE Reward Tiers as well as the "Mixed TOP ACES Brick" tier.- This will be for both the WWI & WWII decks

_________________________________________

$20,000 (367 Backers) Funding Goal Reached- REACHED!

___________________________________________

My Inspiration

Ever since my grandfather first made a drawing of his crop-duster plane and I was in the military, I have loved two things, The History of Aviation and using illustration to help communicate a really cool story.

Top Aces of World War II combines those two things and allows me to pay homage to some really brave people and use illustration to bring those stories to life.

WWII and WWI

Last year I launched the successful Top Aces of WWI where I paid homage to the many daredevils of WWI. Now, Top Aces of WWII is all about the heroes that flew in WWII. I chose all of the Top Aces from each country that were represented in World War II.

What is an Ace?

An Ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more.

Thank you for checking this Kickstarter out and supporting such a fun project. As always, there were a lot of hours spent illustrating each face cards and coming up with the over all look and feel. This was a joy to create and your support is greatly appreciated. Without you, this project would not be possible.

Printed by UNITED STATES PLAYING CARDS

(Only the Top Aces of WWII will be printed by USPCC. Top Aces of WWI will be printed by LPCC once again)

Features

Minimum print run of 1000

Printed by the UNITED STATES PLAYING CARDS

54 completely custom playing cards

Each court, ace and joker cards will have original illustrations

Air Cushion Embossed Card Finish

Premium Casino Grade Paper Stock

Elegant hot foil stamping will illuminate the tuck box.

An impressively embossed tuck

The tuck box material will be the same linen-textured specialty paper

Features

KICKSTARTER EXCLUSIVE!

Minimum print run of 1000

Printed by the LEGENDS PLAYING CARD CO.

54 completely custom playing cards
Each court, ace and joker cards will have original illustrations

The cards will be printed on the Classic Finish. (which is the highest quality card stock that Legends Playing Card Co. has to offer)

Elegant hot foil stamping will illuminate the tuck box.

An impressively embossed tuck.

The tuck box material will be the same linen-textured specialty paper that I have used for the last 4 projects.

Features

KICKSTARTER EXCLUSIVE:

ONLY THROUGH KICKSTARTER and during Pre-Order you can pledge for this luxurious leather case.

Made with genuine leather.

Red felt lined interior

2 Deck Wooden Case Features:

ONLY THROUGH KICKSTARTER during Pre-Order you can pledge for this uniquely designed 2 deck wooden case.

Red Felt lined interior

Copper Hot-Stamped Foil

THE TOP ACES T-SHIRTS are screen printed on American Apparel using extremely soft comfortable fabric that feels super-lightweight. 50/50 blend. All sizes available. Message me for sizes above 2XL and below small.

The Superior German Flyers

On each of the face cards of this deck you will see a number at the right. This number is the number of enemy aircrafts that were recorded as being shot down. You will notice that the Germans seemed to have a much higher number. A number of factors probably contributed to the very high totals of the top German aces.

For a limited period, many Axis victories were over obsolescent aircraft and either poorly trained or inexperienced Allied pilots.

Luftwaffe pilots generally flew many more individual missions (sometimes well over 1000) than their Allied counterparts.

They often kept flying combat missions until they were captured, incapacitated, or killed, while successful Allied pilots were usually either promoted to positions involving less combat flying or routinely rotated back to training bases to pass their valuable combat knowledge to younger pilots.

An imbalance in the number of targets available also contributed to the apparently lower numbers on the Allied side, since the number of operational Luftwaffe fighters was normally well below 1,500, with the total aircraft number never exceeding 5,000, and the total aircraft production of the Allies being nearly triple that of the other side.

A difference in tactics might have been a factor as well; Erich Hartmann, for example, stated "See if there is a straggler or an uncertain pilot among the enemy... Shoot him down."which would have been an efficient and relatively low-risk way of increasing the number of kills.

Risks and challenges

As always, there may be unforeseen obstacles that may arise, but in preparation for this project I have surrounded myself with a knowledgeable team of people to minimize any problems.

The delivery date is a conservative date in order to make sure the production of the cards are not rushed. As a experienced creator, I know that it is necessary to have a high-end product and I am committed to delivering the best deck of playing cards.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $95 or more
About $95

**SIGNATURE CASE + DELUXE EARLY BIRD**

Get ONE TOP ACES OF WW2 EDITION DECK & ONE TOP ACES OF WW1 EDITION DECK placed inside a ONE EXCLUSIVE SIGNATURE WOODEN CASE +plus ONE TOP ACES OF WW2 EDITION DECK inside a BLACK INK DELUXE LEATHER CASE